1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed toward the field of transferring, browsing and viewing images, and more specifically to an image object that permits fast, efficient transfer, manipulation and viewing of large images.
2. Art Background
The Internet provides opportunities to transmit information quickly, reliably, and efficiently. For example, the Internet is a good medium to transmit email messages consisting of a size less than a few kilobytes of data. Email is also commonly used to transmit data files, typically attached to the email messages. For example, it is common to attach files, such as word processing documents, that consist of a several kilobytes of data. With increased advancements in video and imaging technology, there is an increased demand to transmit large files. For example, it is common for Internet users to transmit digitized images generated from pictures. In the scientific and medical community, it is desirable to transmit large image files. These image files may comprise detailed maps, image data collected from sensors, medical images, etc.
In the medical imaging application, it has become more common for images to be stored, distributed, and viewed in digital form using computer technology. Currently, Picture Archival and Communication Systems or PACS have been in widespread use. In a typical PACS application, image data obtained by imaging equipment such as CT scanners or MRI scanners are stored in the form of computer data files. The size of a data file for an image varies depending on the size and resolution of the image. For example, a typical image file for a diagnostic-quality chest X-ray is on the order of 10 megabytes (MB). The image data files are usually formatted in a “standard” or widely accepted format. In the medical field, one widely used image format is known as DICOM. The DICOM image data files are distributed over computer networks to specialized viewing stations capable of converting the image data to high-resolution images on a CRT display.
Although the Internet is a good medium for transmitting small files, when transferring large images, such as large image files, which may comprise files of over 10 megabytes of data, the Internet becomes slow. For example, currently, many computer users, particularly home users, only have 56 kilobit per second (“56K”) modems to transmit data across the Internet. Even higher bandwidth connections to the Internet, which permits faster transmission of data, do not accommodate the ability to transmit extremely large data files. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a system that permits users to communicate images over networks, including the Internet, without having to email large data files. It is also desirable to develop a system that permits users to manipulate those images as dynamic images.